Tag Archives: Voluntaryism

As I scrolled through my Facebook news feed, I discovered the following artworkhere, being shared by the page, “Positive Anarchy,” and originally posted it to my own wall, along with commentary…

“Has anarchy ever been tried? This all too common question contains a logical fallacy. Anarchy cannot be ‘tried.’ Anarchy is not a social or political system. Anarchy is the fundamental state of nature into which you were born. Anarchy exists every single time you voluntarily interact with other people. Anarchy factually informs the vast majority of your daily activities, even in today’s mad world.” – Roberty Eschauzier (Positive Anarchy)

My Commentary: The various institutionalized reprogramming campaigns working towards transforming human beings into human batteries are so pervasive, the average individual is clueless about the nature of their own consciousness. And, even fewer embrace the Spontaneous Order inherent to truly “living.” Mention Self-Ownership, Freedom Through Non-Aggression, and present all Consensual Interaction as Voluntaryism In Action, and most will attempt to justify the illegitimacy of centralized institutions of coercion by either disavowing their own freedom, attacking everyone else’s, or some combination of the two Yet, the truth is that FREEDOM IS NOT SLAVERY; COERCION IS! No one has the right to control innocent, peaceful individuals

“No matter how they spin it, freedom is not extreme; control is.” Ⓐ

“Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.” – Thomas Paine

As I scrolled through my Facebook news feed, I discovered the following quote, being shared by an acquaintance, and originally posted it to my own wall, along with commentary…

“Anarchists relationship with the state is akin to an arranged marriage. We didn’t want any part of it, yet here we are. Even worse, our spouse is the fat, Neanderthalic, useless, abusive dirtbag who chases brown kids off the lawn with a broom. Unfortunately we can’t run because they can find us anywhere, can access our bank account and have superior firepower.

This is why we cheat every chance we get with that sexy mistress known as freedom. Any creative way to circumvent the rules of this relationship are as euphoric as the blossoming of a new love affair after years of misery, and we will continue to do so until we eventually find a way to get rid of it once and for all.

Statists are the ones with Stockholm syndrome that embrace this relationship. Just like many victims, they don’t want to listen to our advice because they’re comfortable and complacent. These are the friends we generally avoid because we dislike their spouse.

Libertarianism is simply the spouse loving you back but still not allowing you to leave the house unsupervised.

As I scrolled through my Facebook news feed, I discovered the following artworkhere, being shared by the page, “Voluntaryist Lounge and Cantina,” and originally posted it to my own wall, along with commentary…

“We need a way to control people! People are evil!”“Religion!”“Government!”“What if we all learned better how to properly control ourselves?”

Want to emancipate yourself from the intrigues of pathocracy? Start by rejecting the false authority of the pompous parasites who claim themselves our “leaders,” and exercise your power to deny or withdraw consent. Then, refuse to support the institutions that assign humanity with labels fit for criminals, as they merely enable the 1% corrupt, polluted souls among us to collectively oppress and punish us all for crimes we haven’t even committed, in an effort to catch a boogie man that lives no further than the nearest MIRROR! Besides, biology, itself, does NOT support the “freedom is slavery” doublethink mentality of such control-freaks, no matter how many clever excuses they come up with in order to justify their lust to harm and enslave others:

The following debate took place upon my Facebook wall, after I postedartworkbeing shared by the page, “Liberty Memes”…

Rayn:

“Rage on behalf of the machine”

Sam B.:

“When you’re a high school college age middle class white male who grossly overestimaes his knowledge of philosophy, politics and economics”

Rayn: To whom are you referring?

Sam B.: “Volunteerists” are basically AnCaps, soooo

Rayn: Hmmm… How ironic… A dismissive, condescending, fact-free claim that I “grossly overestimate” my “knowledge of philosophy, politics, and economics”… delivered in the form of a vague, confusing, clumsy, poorly-worded, grasping accusation… that just so happens to showcase the exact flaw I’m alleged to have. Keep it class-y, comrade! 😉

To be clear: the term is “Voluntaryist,” not “volunteerist.” And, at the root of the word “Voluntaryist,” along with the entire foundation of the philosophy it enshrines, is the concept of “voluntary” action. This is readily distinguishable from the unrelated act of being a “volunteer.” Your failure to make this distinction is only my *first* indication that *you* “grossly overestimate” your own “knowledge of philosophy, politics, and economics” – not to mention, anti-politics, too.

My second indication comes from your failure to distinguish between Voluntaryism and Anarcho-Capitalism. By definition, Voluntaryism is simply the “philosophy which holds that all forms of human association should be voluntary.” Voluntaryists view and treat *consent* as the foundation of a peaceful, just society – nothing more. Voluntaryism is a bare-boned social-moral philosophy – not a specific political-economic blueprint. Hence, one can both be a Voluntaryist AND practice, for example, Anarcho-Communalism (or, Anarcho-Feminism, or Anarcho-Primitivism, etc) – so long as the particular type of activity or system being practiced is based in *voluntary action*, rather than *coercion*.

Meanwhile, Anarcho-Capitalists are defined as those that “advocate the elimination of the state in favor of self-ownership, private property and free markets.” This clearly maps out a political-economic system. Indeed, Voluntaryism, like many other types of types of Anarchism, is predicated upon the principle of universal self-ownership (and, the somewhat-related, yet still separate, Non-Aggression Principle), but this is the only fundamental agreement between Voluntaryism and Anarcho-Capitalism. Perhaps this article will help to clear things up for you…

In the end, your obtuse claim that Voluntaryists are “basically AnCaps,” is unsupported by fact, and really only serves to expose your prejudice. So, I’ll share a few of my personal views, to assist you in shedding some of your preconceived, false notions. I am a Voluntaryist, NOT an Anarcho-Capitalist. And, this is for a number of reasons – starting with the most basic concept of “property rights.” More than a few Anarcho-Capitalists lean on a Western understanding of property rights, which calls for the creation of artificial borders, through tools like title-ship and fences, without even a single regard for actual personal use, involved. I view this as a breach of the peace, because such systems restrict the free travel of the peaceful. And, even worse, Western-style property rights are often inherently hostile to the well-established travel routes, hunting grounds, and natural water supply locations of Stateless nomadic/tribal/indigenous societies, as well as the local animal populations, making them a further breach of the peace. Compounding the issue, these Western-style property rights typically call for the designation of all those who travel through said artificially-created borders as criminal “trespassers,” regardless of actual personal use of the “owner,” and without consideration for each individual traveler’s peaceful activity during transit (i.e. no harm, no property destruction, no dumping of waste, etc.). And, this apparently allows for the initiation of violence against said “trespassers.” I view the logic and motivations for such a crude understanding of land “ownership” to be fundamentally flawed. As a Voluntaryist, my property rights extend not from entitlement, nor even through mere occupation of physical space, but from the basic principle of Self-Ownership, and my desire to peacefully continue exercising my Individual Sovereignty, without interference, even as I respect that exact same right among all other members of the living, beginning with my fellow human beings, in an effort to cooperatively co-exist, and guard our birthright, together.

Rayn: As a Voluntaryist, I advocate for the use of any and ALL Voluntary-based economic systems, ALL of the time – based on each and every individual situation and circumstance, involved. You might do well to think of it more as a “spectrum,” with an Individual free to navigate it, at their own discretion. Meanwhile, if you’ve ever taken the time to talk to an Anarcho-Capitalist about their economic views, they will rarely advocate for such liberties. As an Individual, I engage in a more Anarcho-Communalist economic system within my own household, and in my family unit. Yet, as a matter of *pure personal preference*, I absolutely do advocate for free markets, free trade, and free enterprise – the laissez-faire approach – in my voluntary dealings with society, at large. However, in even this seemingly “basic” respect, I still find myself fundamentally at odds with many Anarcho-Capitalists, yet again. And, this conflict arises, for one, because I dare view corporations exactly as the vast majority of us Anarchists view the government – as representing nothing more than corrupt pieces of legal fiction, which essentially function as protective Straw-men, by *limiting the personal liability* of those humans who operate them, while maximizing their personal profitability. In a free society, without government, I would “advocate the elimination” of all corporations, and seek to have them rightfully recognized as just another form of business fraud. Make no mistake: I fully respect freedom of association, and do not condemn partnerships in business or organization, as they more-appropriately “spread” liability. I just take issue with the formation of corporations, which represent an attempt to “buffer” liability onto a fictitious entity, rather than the real-life, flesh-and-blood human beings operating them.

Aside from this, my understanding of the laissez-faire approach is also at odds with a number of Anarcho-Capitalists for another important reason – that once again traces back to property rights. A number of them do not agree with my apparently-more-inclusive understanding of “free markets, free trade, and free enterprise,” because they lean on the Western-based concept of “intellectual property,” which calls for the physical enforcement of “copyrights” and “patents.” Some even go so far as to claim free-sharing of music and art as a form of theft. Meanwhile, I advocate for the elimination of all such systems because I view them as crushingly oppressive and sinister attempts to restrict the free market and free trade of ideas, thoughts and concepts, in a protectionist racket against free enterprise. It is also inherently hostile to open-source and crowd-sourced-based works, too. In my estimation, all so-called “intellectual property” actually enters the “public domain” from the moment it is published – end of story. Indeed, authors deserve recognition for their original ideas, thoughts and concepts. And… that’s about as far as that goes. So long as an individual isn’t plagiarizing an original author, nor fraudulently claiming the original author’s name as their own, in duplicating ideas and concepts, there is no injured party to speak of. And, I say this is as a musician, an artist, and a writer, offering my work, at no charge, under Creative Commons

On a final note, I should point out that capitalism, itself, is defined as “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for *profit,* rather than by the state.” Furthermore, the root word of capitalism, which is “capital,” refers specifically to physical wealth. Under these terms, there is simply no way for me to identify myself as any sort of “capitalist.” To begin, as an Individual, I’m primarily motivated by my desire to keep my eternal soul – and, it’s not for sale. Besides this, as a Voluntaryist, I’m motivated, first and foremost, by my desire to keep my free will – and, once again: it’s not for sale. Personally, I have no intention of trading off either of these sacred possessions, for any amount of fleeting “profit” in this world of temporary substance.

In the end, the narrow definition of “profit,” as offered by capitalism, is severely lacking in depth, by design – since it is driven by the dry math of business-building. With this in mind, capitalism actually offers *one* particular mode of motivation for exchange within the free market, among many other competing and cooperating motivations. Yet, there are plenty of Individuals only interested in building up a business when they first create it, and who cease expanding, once they achieve a comfortably modest, self-manageable size level of production. And, besides this, it is possible for a business to even technically “profit” without surplus “accumulation of capital”. An easy hypothetical example of this would be a recycling company that operates successfully, while only breaking even, financially. Land and soil conservation represent legitimate factors to consider in the realm of real, sustainable, long-term profit, even when the average, short-sighted Capitalist willfully excludes them, choosing to focus on “accumulation of capital,” as the sole measure of successful operation, using their steady accumulation of profit to buffer themselves from the consequences of unsustainable environmental practices – ready to jump ship on the land they ruin, and purchase new property, basically. And, this leads me to my final point, which is that there are many other forms of profit beyond just physical wealth – and they individually, and cooperatively, exercise various levels of influence over the free market, free trade, and free enterprise, as well. An quick example of this sort of profit would be “accumulation of reputation,” as dictated by quality of character, which, in itself, acts as a form of social currency.

Rayn: By the way… in case you haven’t taken the time to notice… I’m not a “high school to college age middle class white male.” And, in fact, I’ve spent most of my life in poverty, and I was also homeless with my family in NYC for almost four years, straight, starting at 12 years old… “soooo”…

I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

“Attention Butler County School Employees: If you are interested in our FREE CCW class, email your full name, school affiliate, and contact information to ccwclass@butlersheriff.org. This class will be limited to 50 candidates. We will contact you this week with the date, time, and location of the class. Yes, ANY employee of a school located in Butler County may apply. You will be required to show proof of employment prior to class.” – Butler County Sheriff’s Office

My Commentary: Voluntaryism, for the win! In virtually all situations, there is no legitimate cause for the force of government to be involved. Save the muscle for the actual criminals; otherwise, you make yourself into one! It is immoral to use coercion upon innocent, peaceful people. Learn the meaning of consent, and pay better attention to where your jurisdiction ends!